Spoilers, Leaks, and Trolls

I should have known better.

While waiting for the new Star Wars film at the cinema, I went on Twitter. Trolls had spoiled the movie to thousands of users—myself included.

It got me thinking about spoilers, but primarily the musical counterpart to it. I’d say it’s when an album leaks.

Before the days of Napster, LimeWire and Kazaa, pretty much the only way you could get an album before it was officially released in stores was if a store mistakenly sold it to you a day or a week beforehand… or if you stole a promotion copy from a radio station or music magazine.

These days, it’s easy peasy. Albums and songs are leaked like it’s nobody’s business. It’s almost a given; leaks are so prevalent that artists often release their album as soon as it is leaked. It’s pretty much all they can do to prevent leaks from killing their sales and revenues. They also stream their albums on websites as “first listens” (which are almost instantly recorded and shared amongst file-sharing networks).

This brings me to the other side of the coin; who can blame fans for listening to music by artists they love as quickly as possible?

I can.

Maybe it’s a sign that I’m getting old, but I will never forget having to wait in line—sometimes at midnight—to get my hands on brand new albums. That first listen, reading the liner notes, seeing the artwork… it made for an amazing experience.

You lose that when you listen to a leaked album.

I will admit that I have listened to leaked albums in the past (mea culpa), and while I buy each and every album, by the time I actually get the official copy physically in my hands, I’ve often played the album so many times I’m already sick of it. Sure, the music is in a far better quality than the leak, it’s the first time seeing the liner notes and the art inside the booklet, but I spoiled the experience of that magical first listen.

And you can’t have that back.

So maybe patience is a virtue. Maybe it isn’t; that all depends on what you want to do. But no matter what you decide to do, don’t be an asshole and spoil a first listen (or viewing) for anyone but yourself.